Problem With Predictions
by secretfanficlover
Summary: Sybill's sister is going into labour, and she was too afraid to predict the future, instead giving out false hope to try and encourage the couple.


**This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

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Word Count: 1025

Title: Problem With Predictions

Note: AU! Sybil has a sister.

Warnings: angst, pain

Beta: lun 27, Aya Deyfair

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Hogwarts

Assignment 10: Ritual & Ceremonial Magic: Winter Solstice: Task #4: Write about a scenario where a family waits as a relative is giving birth.

Yearly:

Prompt 342 [Action] Shouting

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"Is he okay? Are you okay?" the nurse asked to Martha and her husband as they walked into the emergency room at St Mungo's, followed by Sybill Trelawney, her sister.

"Oh, he's just being dramatic," Martha laughed, and then she groaned, bending over in pain.

"It will all be worth it soon," Sybill said to Todd's retreating back when they wheeled her into the emergency room. "I'll wait up for you, dear."

"_You know you're not doing him any favors if you're lying_," her internal compass thought after the words passed her lips.

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Sybill was waiting, walking and waiting. She was nervous. Her sister was in the maternity ward of St Mungo's, and she was stuck in the waiting room. The healer had only said that something went wrong, and she couldn't believe it. She had such a good feeling about this little one that was about to be born, she wished her all the best things in the world. If she considered it too carefully, she would have realised it hadn't been a prediction, simply a wish. She had wanted so badly for her sister Martha to be okay, she hadn't even taken the chance to think about what could really happen. What if something bad happened to Martha and her daughter? Sybill couldn't bear to think of it.

"Ma'am, please sit down," the nurse asked, watching the woman dressed in her eccentric dark purple robes with gold stars and a matching hat that had been placed on the chair as Sybil walked around. She was also wearing red heels under her cloak, which were visible as she walked. She saw them as her goodluck charm, being in the business of predicting the future, she needed all the help she could get.

"Sorry," she muttered, abashed, trying to sit down and wait patiently for news about her sister and the baby. Her leg started to tap, her red shoes clicking on the carpet. Her eyes were staring off into space, and she waited. She was watching the hands moving on the clock. Should it be taking this long? Then she looked out of the window to admire the clear night sky. Surely it would be a good sign.

It was a while later when Todd walked into the room; he looked exhausted. Wordlessly, he collapsed into the nearest chair. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with unshed tears.

"What's going on?" Sybill asked curiously.

"She is still in labour, it's been twelve hours." He sighed. "Sybill, you promised her it wouldn't be like this."

"Everybody wants a happy ending right? But it doesn't always roll that way," Sybill said, a bitter tone to her voice.

"All you did was curse my family," Todd accused angrily.

"I did nothing!" she cried out at the accusation.

"You promised Martha would be fine!"

"I was obviously wrong," Sybill said, a teardrop threatening to fall from her eyes behind her large glasses.

"Then how did you predict something that is wrong?" Todd asked her finally, his tone softening slightly.

"It's the thought that counts!" Sybill insisted.

"You did this on purpose?" he asked her, trying to stand up but falling back into the chair, too tired to fight.

"I didn't predict anything, I just—" she stopped short. She didn't know how to tell him she had been scared to make a prediction, only her sister understood that everything she ever predicted had been bad news. There had always been both her and Todd's pride that got between the two of them and that was the main reason they never got along.

"Then what was all that? She will be a miracle child, a blessing to our family? What a load of rubbish," he spat at her.

"It was my wishes for your child, you know I would never want any harm to come to either of them, they are my family just as much as yours."

"Meanwhile my wife is writhing in pain," he said. His grey eyes looked lost.

"They could still be fine, didn't they say her heartbeat was holding steady?" Sybill insisted. Todd nodded, and she saw his eyes flicker to the open window. There was a gentle breeze coming into the window, and the clear sky showed hundreds of stars.

"You know what? I never should have let you come here," Todd muttered savagely. Sybill could tell he was hurting, and although the words stung, she had made a promise to her sister she would be right here until she was fine.

"Look at the stars," Sybill suggested, Todd gave her a puzzled look but obliged.

"Now, you can see them clearly, can't you?"

"Obviously," he said rolling his eyes.

"And what about when it rains?"

"Nobody can see the stars when it rains," he muttered as if she was losing her mind.

"Precisely, you cannot see your child being born or Martha surviving, but we have to believe it's true," she explained.

Todd gave her a small smile. "She will be fine, won't she?"

"Of course," a voice said, but it wasn't Sybill, it was a nurse. "Mr Todd, Miss Trelawney, Martha and the baby are doing just fine, you both can go in and see them now."

The two of them hugged, finally reaching a point where something was more important than their dislike for each other. Their argument was forgotten as they heard a cry from the nursery, and they smiled before walking towards the room together.

"Hot from the oven and full in lovin'!" the Healer said with a grin as they walked in through the door, handing the newborn girl over to Todd, and he cradled her gently in his arms.

"Welcome to the world, little one," he said, kissing her forehead softly, watching her little grey eyes drift closed.

"Time for momma and daughter to get some sleep," the Healer said in a softer tone, taking the small child and placing her into a crib by Martha's bedside, and Sybill was just happy that for once it all turned out to be a happy ending after all.

Though she supposed it wasn't really an ending, more of a beginning.


End file.
